Around three o’clock in the afternoon, they had already gathered on the embankment, and the group was quite large. They found a good spot below the embankment, and the boys started setting up tents and laying picnic mats, while the girls were picking small seashells on a nearby little beach. It wasn’t the sea, and the sand on the small beach wasn’t as fine and soft as the sand by the seaside. On the contrary, it was rough and prickly, but the girls were having a great time, taking off their shoes and socks to wade in the water.
Duan Ye would come over to take a look every now and then.
Yan Qing couldn’t help but shout loudly to him, “Brother Duan, don’t worry. It’s very shallow here, and we’re near the shore. There are no waves at all, so your Yumo won’t be swept away!”
Duan Ye said helplessly, “Just be careful. I’m afraid you guys might fall.”
“Take ‘guys’ out!” Yan Qing shouted, “It’s just Yumo!”
Jiang Yumo went to hit Yan Qing.
The two of them stomped around in the water, wetting their pants.
In fact, this is just a small water beach, and the water level is only up to Jiang Yumo’s knees at the deepest point.
Duan Ye wanted to go forward.
Sun Mengting stopped him, saying, “This is our girls’ business, you boys don’t need to meddle, even if you’re our Yumo’s Brother Duan!”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yumo shouted and went to hit Sun Mengting again.
Of course, Sun Mengting was telling the truth.
Jiang Yu Mo also took a moment to command Duan Ye, “Don’t come over! I can handle them both, no, three of them, by myself!”
Duan Ye chuckled and said, “Alright.”
Yan Qing was still teasing Jiang Yumo, “Yes, you can handle the three of us alone. Who are you? You’re Big Brother’s woman, oh Sister-in-law~”
Jiang Yumo : Ahhhh!!
She wished she could turn into a groundhog.
Ning Zhiyu’s smile on her face was radiant. When Jiang Yumo first met her, she always had a gentle but faint smile. But now, she was so cheerful. Zhou Ji, who was setting up the tent, stood up and glanced over at the small beach. He saw Ning Zhiyu standing in front of Jiang Yumo, with some water splashed on her hair, and laughter was constant.
Today is truly perfect.
Zhou Ji thought like this, then frowned. No, if he hadn’t handed her that card today, it would have been perfect.
That act was simply a blunder, such a low-level and stupid mistake, he couldn’t possibly make it again.
After they had enough fun, Zhao Zheng also called them over to check their labor results.
Meanwhile, Ning Zhiyu had just put on her shoes and socks when Zhou Ji approached her in big strides. In her shocked gaze, he took off his jacket.
Ning Zhiyu : “?”
Anyone with eyes could see what he intended to do.
Ning Zhiyu also had a temper, but she had been suppressing it all this time. Now, she finally couldn’t take it anymore and asked, “What are you doing here again?”
Hearing her ‘driving away’ and ‘disdainful’ tone, Zhou Ji clenched his teeth and said, “I can see that your pants are wet and you might catch a cold. Wearing my clothes will keep you warm.”
“No need,” Ning Zhiyu refused without hesitation.
Zhou Ji looked at her calmly.
Without even caring whether she agreed or not, he directly threw his jacket next to her and said, “Use it if you need it.”
After saying that, he turned around and walked towards the tent.
Ning Zhiyu was stunned.
She lowered her head and glanced at the black jacket, feeling a mix of emotions.
At this age, boys who claim to always like you actually like many people. The words they say to you today could be said to someone else tomorrow, as if they were some kind of machine, capable of easily uttering ‘forever’ and ‘I like you’ to anyone.
Just like discarded rotten vegetables on the street.
She felt that Zhou Ji was also like that. Perhaps his ‘liking’ was even cheaper and more fleeting.
He is not the right person for her.
She withdrew her gaze, never looking at the jacket again, put on her shoes and socks, and returned to the gathering place.
Ning Zhiyu came back empty-handed.
Zhou Ji knew that she didn’t need his jacket. Originally, he wanted to act cool and not give her the jacket, but after sitting for a while, and it was under the embankment, so the wind was not weak. It was already early December. He sneakily picked up the jacket while no one was paying attention and casually put it on as if nothing had happened.
The tent is not small.
But with so many people squeezing inside, it wasn’t very comfortable.
However, everyone was very excited because this time it was truly a special experience. They had never squeezed into a tent with so many people before.
At this moment, everyone’s hearts were close to each other.
“We have to go to class again tomorrow,” Li Shengyun suddenly said.
“…” Yan Qing was speechless and choked up, “Why would you say something like that to ruin the mood at this time? Alright, let’s play a game!”
Jiang Yumo took over the conversation and said, “What kind of game are we playing? The one where you ask me questions and I answer? I don’t want to play with you guys.”
In the end, they will definitely make fun of her.
That’s why she must firmly refuse this kind of game.
Sun Mengting hugged her knees and chuckled, “Okay then, you can play it with Brother Duan in the future. So what game should we play today? Let me say it beforehand, no ghost stories. Lately, my parents have been working overtime, and I’m home alone at night.”
Jiang Yumo immediately agreed, raising both hands and feet in support, “Yes, yes, no telling ghost stories.”
Duan Ye laughed, “Don’t worry, we won’t.”
Zhao Zheng and Guo Shichao exchanged glances— Oh, forget it.
“Oh, by the way, Brother Zhou, you came from Yanjing, right? What kind of games do you usually play there?” Li Shengyun, being a good person, always considered Zhou Ji’s feelings and now shifted the topic to him.
Yan Qing was also curious, “Yeah, what games are popular in Yanjing?”
Zhou Ji was caught off guard by the question.
Because he tried hard to recall what he and his friends usually did, he realized that it was mostly eating, singing, playing games in someone’s game room, or going to a resort for vacations.
There were hardly any truly deep impressions.
“We mostly played games,” Zhou Ji said, “occasionally we would go bowling.”
Bowling?
They looked at each other and shook their heads, “We’ve only seen it on TV.”
Zhou Ji replied, “Actually, it’s quite boring. I’m not really into it. Oh, we also play snooker.”
“What’s snooker?”
Yan Qing, who was well-read and had read most of the novels by the ‘Overlord’ author, raised her hand and answered, “It’s a type of billiard game, like pool.”
Zhou Ji nodded and hesitated, “I’m not too fond of it either. I still like basketball the most.”
Now, thinking back, he truly felt from the bottom of his heart that being together like this, chatting and joking in the tent, was even more enjoyable than when he was in Yanjing.
He had long forgotten how much he wanted to escape back when he first arrived in Ningcheng.
“That’s unavoidable.” Li Shengyun shrugged. “We don’t even know if there’s a bowling alley around here, and even if there is, it’s impossible for us to go. We don’t even know how to play. I’m not particularly fond of billiards either. How about this,” he looked at Duan Ye, then at Zhou Ji, “let’s play hide-and-seek!”
Duan Ye : “…”
He thought Li Shengyun would come up with some earth-shattering idea.
But the result…
Hide-and-seek?
Zhou Ji : “…”
Zhao Zheng burst out laughing, “Come on, Xiao Li, we’re all seventeen or eighteen years old, not seven or eight. No, even seven or eight-year-olds don’t play hide-and-seek anymore.”